Ticket to rate: antecedents to turnover intention among teachers

Since the millennium, marketization of upper secondary education involving control, accountability, and performance has changed the working life of many teachers in the Western world. The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between turnover intention and control-oriented HRM, performance appraisal, and heteronomy. Leader-member exchange (LMX) is tested as a possible mediator and moderator. The study is based on quantitative data from a survey of Norwegian high school teachers (n = 1055) in three areas. Sample characteristics correspond with characteristics for the overall teacher population in Norway. The main methods of analysis include path analysis and bootstrapping. Analyses uncover positive relationships between turnover intention and all three variables. LMX mediated all relationships. No moderation effects of LMX were found. Direct relationships did not differ with gender, but mediation effects did. Among female teachers control-oriented HRM and heteronomy disturbed the LMX relationship so much that these variables increased their intention to quit. Our study contributes by showing that turnover intention among teachers should be understood in conjunction with marketization and de-regulation reforms, as these have increased the proliferation of control-oriented HRM and heteronomy. We highlight the significance of LMX for understanding turnover intentions, and the practical implications of our findings.